McAfee: Republicans Taking Over Libertarian Party

“When you take these slow, careful steps like Gary [Johnson] and the party has been doing, you end up with compromise”

On the eve of the Libertarian Party National Convention which will decide the party’s presidential nominee, John McAfee, Libertarian Presidential candidate, spoke to InfoWars about the failure of politics and political debates.

McAfee is the founder of the cybersecurity software that still bears his name. He wrote recently in a Newsweek op-ed, “I am familiar with businesses, having started 17 in my life, almost all successful, and one of them now worth more than a billion dollars. The fourth company I founded—McAfee Inc.—was sold to Intel for more than $7 billion a few years ago. I have started many companies now worth more than $100 million dollars. So I know a little about business.” But his first adventure into politics has been an education. “The one thing more powerful than information is disinformation…This is where politics shines.”

WILL REPUBLICANS TAKE OVER THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY?

McAfee criticized his opponent Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, for saying he would name William Weld, former Governor of Massachusetts, as his Vice-Presidential running mate. (LP delegates will choose the running mate at the convention, but will likely bow to the nominee’s choice.)

Washington insiders and politicos gush over the idea of having 2, two-term governors running on a presidential ticket, but McAfee thinks otherwise. He said, “Being a two-term governor is a negative this year. We are sick of politicians and governors and mayors and anybody tainted and polished by the political process”.

After Johnson tapped fellow GOP politician Weld as his choice for VP, Reason magazine examined Weld’s record as Governor in Massachusetts in an article “William Weld Isn’t a Softcore Libertarian—He Just Isn’t a Libertarian At All”. The article concluded that while Libertarian define themselves as “socially liberal, fiscally conservative”, in Weld’s case,
“ ‘socially liberal’ [is] defined in terms a Michael Bloomberg could embrace.”

McAfee added, “I have not met a single Libertarian that doesn’t believe we have a right to own and bear arms. And Gary Johnson picks a man who doesn’t want anyone under 21 having a gun, who doesn’t believe that arms are necessary unless they’re used for hunting?”

LOSING THE REVOLUTION THROUGH COMPROMISE

McAfee is not just troubled by the choice of Weld as VP, but by the desire for liberty taking a backseat to the desire to be taken seriously by the establishment.

“What happens when you decide to take a slow, careful step into revolution — because libertarianism is a revolutionary idea. We want to completely change the way our government functions. When you take these slow, careful steps like Gary and the party has been doing, you end up with compromise. All change of a radical nature, in all of human history that is attempted in a slow step by step process has resulted in that movement being absorbed by the power there, through compromise. The convention has not even happened and already we have someone who is absolutely NOT a libertarian running as Vice-President.”

DEBATES

When Ross Perot was included in the presidential debates in 1992, he soared in the polls. Republicans and Democrats made sure it wouldn’t happen again by creating a Commission on Presidential Debates that set a threshold of 15% in national polls as a prerequisite for debate inclusion. Johnson has filed suit, along with the Green Party, claiming that this is an illegal conspiracy and violation of antitrust laws. McAfee said “Gary Johnson talks about presidential debates — if we don’t get into the debate, we’re lost. So he’s suing the Debate Commission. We know that’s not going to go to court until AFTER the election, we know how the court process works, so it’s utter nonsense.”

After participating in multiple debates at state conventions McAfee can’t hide his disgust with debate process in general.

“At the Las Vegas debate that Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller, put together, I did the debate like everybody else. In my closing statement I got up and said ‘What you have watched is utter, complete nonsense fabricated by the media in the ’60s and perpetrated by the media, for the media. And let me explain. What do you have in a presidential debate? You have open statements and closing statements written by speechwriters, not the candidates himself. You have a candidate that has been coached by dozens….[we are] buying into this media-industry-government-complex…We should elect the speechwriter into office.”

Watch the rest of the interview where McAfee gives his position on issues like mandatory vaccines, health care & ObamaCare, and, of course, cyber-security.